Give Yourself A Break – You’re Not Supposed to Be Perfect

Every day I’m annoyed that I’m not perfect. I want to be a combination of Mary Poppins, Super Woman, and Kate Middleton, but I’m not. I’m a business owner, working mom, who just yelled at my son, on his birthday, and ate a large piece of birthday cake with a lot of green icing and sprinkles, despite that I “don’t eat sugar”.

Some days are going to be bad. On those bad days, it’s easy to feel like we’re messing things up and that we are indeed a mess. Instead, give yourself a break. The thing to know and remember, in the moment, is that you’re a human being, doing the best you can.

Here is a list of five ways to give yourself a break and as a result, do your best work.

1. 1. Set realistic deadlines so you’re not constantly running against time, and overestimate how long everything will take to do.
   2. Before agreeing to a new commitment, ask yourself, “Do I really want to do this?” Try not to commit yourself to things you know, at your core, you don’t want to do. You’ll just resent that commitment when it rolls around and aren’t likely to do your best work.
   3. Turn off the alerts on your phone and laptop when you’re working. You’ll be more focused and get more work done.
   4. Take a day off. Your company offers vacation time for a reason. People do better work when they take time to relax and rejuvenate.
   5. Say “thank you” more and “I’m sorry” less. “Thank you for letting me know” is more empowering than “I’m sorry I missed that.” I’m guilty of apologizing for everything, so much so that one of my employees and I play a game that whoever says she’s sorry first has to throw a dollar in a communal collection pot. Whatever you put attention on will improve.

Some of these things are business focused, some are personal. You bring yourself – your whole self – to work. It’s why you’re good at what you do. People want to work with real people. And real people over commit, make mistakes, and spend too much time on social media at 11:30 pm. Give yourself a break.

Tags: do your best work, give yourself a break, how to do more self care, how to say anything to anyone, manage your career, managing expectations at work, managing your career, self care for busy professionals, self care for women, self care for working moms